Ninety-eight percent of the players playing for the Nigerian national team are foreign-based. Only one or two players from the domestic league are usually invited to participate in some competitions. And oftentimes when they are invited, they sit on the bench because they cannot match the quality and exposure of their counterparts playing abroad.

However, many domestic players jump at any opportunity to play in the foreign leagues in order to increase their chances of getting a call up from the national team. And because of how local players have been leaving the Nigerian league for foreign clubs, a former Super Eagles goalkeeper, Ike Shorunmu has argued that the preference for foreign-based players is killing the Nigerian League.

In other words, because more attention is given to the Nigerian players playing abroad, domestic players are moving out in droves so that they can earn the recognition that will help them get a place in the national team. Consequently, leading to the drain of quality players in the Nigerian domestic league.

While Ike Shorunmu may be right to some extent, I do not completely agree with him because what is actually stunting the growth of Nigerian football league is poor management.

Despite the crop of talents that are in the Nigerian league, it still remains one of the worst leagues in Africa in terms of organization. Here is a league where many players do not have valid contracts and are even owed the peanuts they are paid. There is no way a foreign league will offer them a lucrative contract and they will not accept it.

The Brazilian and Argentine national teams are mostly dominated by foreign players, playing in different European Leagues and yet this has not in any way affected their local leagues, which rank as part of the competitive leagues in the world.

If the Nigerian league is well managed, there is no reason why the players will leave in the first place. In fact, they will stay and compete for the slots in the national team like their counterparts playing in foreign leagues.
Click to read full article: https://qwenu.com/2019/03/14/is-the-preference-for-foreign-based-players-killing-the-nigerian-football-league/

Sorry to say, but players from this crappy league
The quality of the league is extraordinarily poor. I don't think even Brazil with the relatively better quality of their league will make the mistake of Fielding a team composed of mostly local league players.